The devil's in the D tales
by Shambles X
Summary: Follow the adventures of Edward Knox. A sheltered researcher raised by marines as a soldier. Now he set's sail to find the kind of adventures he'd only read about as he journey's to Raftel. OC's encouraged!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Well it sure is nice to be back. I have not written anything for a long time because my laptop committed suicide and has taken months to fix but now has literally nothing of mine on it. For those who don't know my name is Shambles X (Well it's not but you know what I mean.) and I wrote a story called Romance Dusk a long time ago. I am not writing any more of it as after such a long time I doubt anyone will be interested or be able to remember anything about it (I know I can't) I would like to thank everyone who read that story and for all the support I got. If there is any demand for it I will attempt to carry on with it but if not then it is dead and may it rest in peace.

Now onward, that first bit was longer than intended so I will make this brief. New story. Hope you like it. Please review. Oo and I don't own One Piece.

**Chapter 1.**

**Ain't that a Kick in the... head.  
**

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10 years after the death of the pirate king Monkey D. Luffy the age of piracy was still alive and well...

"But Vice-Admiral I really don't think that is a wise decision." The marine officer shifted uncomfortably. Objecting to a command given by a superior officer, a Vice-Admiral no less, seemed almost like treason.

"My decision is final Lieutenant. We have stalled the boys release for far longer than would be considered fair. Certainly not parent-like by any stretch of the imagination." The Vice-Admiral sat back in his large office chair. The spring squeaked against the added weight then let out a metallic sigh as he leant forward again. He drummed his finger against the desk in the moments silence that came before the Lieutenants carefully worded response.

"We have no way of telling what will happen to him though sir. It's too much of a risk to let him roam free, we don't know what he's capable of. Anything could happen!" He had felt himself getting more frustrated as he spoke until the last words were a shout. He suddenly remembered his place then saluted. "I apologise Vice-Admiral. I spoke out of turn."

"No, no Lieutenant I have always valued your input and your concerns are well founded but there is just nothing more that we can do to delay his progress. Look at this." The Vice-Admiral admiral strained as he lifted a large pile of paper onto his desk, it landed with a thud and stacked almost to the ceiling. The table groaned slightly under the sheer weight. "This is- er this is-" The Vice-Admiral attempted to look round one side of the paper obelisk and then peered round the other. He let out a sigh and shuffled his chair a few inches to the right. The unused wheels let out a terrible high pitched screech which caused both the Vice-Admiral and Lieutenant to flinch.

"As- I was saying these are the medical forms and legal documents we sent him to slow him down. They were all completed within a day, we have five more rooms full of piles like this. He is not a prisoner here and we would do well not to make him think so. I am sending a Pacifista out to trail him and intervene if he gets into or causes any trouble." The Vice-Admiral still did not look sure about his decision but had resigned himself to whichever outcome it may produce.

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A boy walked out of the marine HQ's front gate, shielding his hazel eyes from the strange sight of the sun and smiled slightly as he felt the sea breeze bustle through his messily spiked light brown hair. His smile turned to a frown as he looked to his left and saw a hulking robotic figure engineered to look similar to the ex Shichikubai Bartholomew Kuma.

The boy was technically a man in all but experience as he was in fact twenty years old, his face was pale but not in an unhealthy looking way. On his left cheek he had a Kanji tattoo which roughly translated to knowledge and a set of three identical ear rings which dangled from his left ear each looking like a golden fang. His expression was one of knowing arrogance, entirely unintentional but gained, none the less, from being considerably smarter than his peers. He would never say so of course, he always chose to be considered an equal by his base comrades. Another strong sea gust swept past blowing his white marine jacket around his legs, like an officer jacket the white coat had justice written on the back in Kanji but unlike an officers jacket it was not adorned with tassels and medals and other shiny memorabilia of greatness, it was just a plain white coat. Unlike an officer he didn't drape it over himself like a cape but wore it as a coat should be worn, with arms in it. He was a researcher not a soldier, not any more anyway, he had no time for such trivial pomp and circumstance. He tugged the hood of his red jumper over his head and pulled the draw strings in an attempt to form some sort of defence against the bitter wind that was picking up. The rest of the boys clothes were items of practicality, purely function over form. He had tatty black cargo pants tucked into thick black ankle high, steel toe capped work boots that had been loosely tied for maximum comfort.

Eddy shuffled the strap of his duffel bag back up onto his shoulder and shot the Kuma lookalike another disapproving narrow eyed glare. He gave it a lazy punch and then walked toward the ship biting his lip with tears in his eyes, trying to shaking off the pain in his fingers. The Pacifista lumbered after him obediently.

**(–)**

"Edward, wake up. We are ashore." A voice echoed around the boys head in the darkness. "Mister Knox, it's time to go." This second voice was mechanical and made him grind his teeth in annoyance even in his sleep.

Edward Knox opened a sleepy eye, the world above slowly came into focus. A blue sky with the occasional fluffy white cloud floating past was the first thing he saw, a few sea gulls soared in ever changing random patterns that he followed with his eye looking for any repetition. Suddenly his view was obscured by the cubist features of the Kuma-bot which blocked out the sky and the sun casting a dark shadow over Edward's face. He sat up and pulled the hood back off his head then glanced round at the faces staring expectantly at him. He looked toward the Captain of the ship.

"Call me Eddy." He said pulling himself to his feet and dusting off his coat half heartedly. "And you-" He pointed an accusatory finger at the Pacifista, "-don't call me anything. Now stay!" He paused for a moment, looking the large motionless robot up and down. "Good boy-man-robot-thing." He said turning to walk down the gang plank onto the dock, he shuddered as he heard several heavy footed steps behind him. "Look, I don't want a baby sitter I just want to experience the real world and maybe do some research while I am at it. I order you to leave me alone!" He gestured angrily with his arms.

"Cannot comply. Contradiction of primary objectives. Request denied." The Pacifista replied in his robotic monotonous voice.

"Oh well that's understandable, I suppose we can just try and-" Eddy's feet skidded on the cobbled floor for a second before he took off speeding down the street, a cloud of dust kicked up in his wake. The Pacifista slowly turned to watch him disappear round a corner in the distance.

"Heat signature locked. Initiating pursuit."

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Eddy gradually slowed to a gentle walk once he felt he had put enough distance between himself and his heavily armed nanny. He let out a relieved sigh and shoved his bag up onto his shoulder before pressing onward in search of something interesting in this, his first visit to a place that wasn't a marine base. His stomach let out a low drawn out growl that sounded like thunder rolling in toward him, he grabbed his unhappy sounding midriff and glanced round the bustling street. Eddy's face lit up when he spotted the saloon style bar a few yards away. He ran through the crowds of people, his mouth watering slightly at the thought of food. It had been forever since he'd eaten something, it had in fact only been three or four hours but it certainly felt like forever to him.

As he approached the swinging saloon doors he smiled at the sound of drunken frivolity booming out from inside. He pushed through the small torso height flaps and glanced round as the shouting and laughter became silence, like someone had just pressed mute. A room of eyes stared at him, none breaking their gaze or silence for even a second. He had noticed people staring at him as he walked through the streets but in a confined space it was far more obvious. Eddy rubbed the back of his neck nervously and smiled in an attempt to break the tension. It didn't work. His feet thudded against the wooden floorboards, amplified by the comparative silence, the walk to the bar felt like miles under the suspicious scrutiny from the tables of disapproving faces.

"What you want?" The barman grunted in a voice that showed as little hospitality as he could manage. "We don't like strangers round here."

"Erm, I have money." Eddy replied nervously, slightly shaken by the cold greeting, he pulled out a wad of notes and waved them in front of the barman's now sparkling eyes.

"Hello my friend!" The barman suddenly began, in a friendly but loud voice. A huge smile had spread across his face. "Welcome to my bar. What can I get you? Drink? Food? Anything just ask." Eddy was even less comfortable now than when the man had just glared at him.

The rest of the bars patrons had already returned to their drinks and conversations. That is, all but one. A man in the corner of the bar, sat at a table by himself stared coldly at Eddy's back, more specifically the justice kanji down the centre of it. He had one arm on the table with a drink in his hand and many empties scattered around it, his other hand was by his side and had been from the moment Eddy had stepped through the front door. The man suddenly stood up flipping his table of empty bottles over in the process. He had drawn a gun from its holster on his waist.

"Damn, marinesh think you own, think you own the who-whole damn plashe. Think you can get away with anything and ignore the needsh of m... of ush reglar folksh. I'll show yer." The man staggered toward Eddy, mumbling similar remarks as he went. Eddy didn't hear him until it was to late. He turned round as the shot fired off and a thick dark liquid splashed against the wooden floor. Eddy looked down towards the puddle, eye's wide in shock. Then to the broken bottle in his hand.

"That was a good shot." He said as the man staggered round in little circles not taking his eye off his target.

"I-I wash aiming for yer head. Now sh-shtand shtill... All of you." Eddy looked around the empty space surrounding him then back at the drunken scruffy man. Suddenly his eyes widened. He heard a repetitive thud coming closer.

"Uhoh." He said as a beeping noise began outside. He leapt over the bar knocking the barman over with him. The front of the building disintegrated in the path of a bright yellow beam of light and flaming wooden shrapnel flew into the wall over Eddy's head. He slowly popped his head back up to see what was left of the bar as well as a scattering of stunned patrons flung in all directions. Where the pickled gunman had been standing there was now just a smoking pile of ash and a pair of boots. Eddy grabbed a bottle of beer and sighed before taking a swig out of it and glaring at the Kuma-bot. He flung the bottle which smashed against the Pacifista's face.

"You suck." Eddy growled as he walked past the large cyborg, carefully stepping over piles of rubble and back into the street. Eddy didn't look back at the Pacifista but if he had he would have seen some sparks and smoke start to appear from the recesses of Kuma's face as the syrupy alcohol from the beer bottle worked its way into the robots circuitry. His head slumped and his arms drooped, while his systems shut down one by one.

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Eddy continued to walk through the town, pondering his current situation. He knew they would do something like that, he knew they wouldn't just let him go. He just wanted to explore and see what life was like, real life, not the sheltered existence he'd had in the marine bases. The marines raised him from a baby that's more than he could say about his real parents, they had just abandoned him somewhere at sea. It wasn't a bad life, the marines between them treated him like their own child and hadn't even objected when he decided he didn't want to be a soldier, despite the years they had spent training him. They gave him a great education, just like he had requested and even his own lab when he was old enough, including notes and schematics from several of Dr Vegapunk's creations. But when it came down to it, he was twenty years old and had only experienced life through what he'd read in books.

"What the hell d'ya think your doing?" A voice yelled somewhere nearby, snapping Eddy out of his own little world. He looked across to see a group of badly dressed men stood round a woman who was currently looking at them in terror. A bag of gold and assorted gems had scattered across the floor glittering like constellations in the night sky. "I think you need to learn to watch where your going!" The leader of the group yelled, his face contorted into a evil snigger.

The man was tall, around seven foot with greasy blonde hair and was wearing a black suit of armour with a black cape that had a skull and cross bones insignia in the centre, he held the full face helmet to the armour under his arm like the dismembered head in tales of horsemen who are slightly shorter than they should be.

"B-but you walked into me." The woman whimpered as she stared fearfully into the pirates face. He raised his free hand and struck her across the face, knocking her to the ground. Eddy's fists had clenched tightly at his side as he watched. He looked around at the other locals walking by trying not to notice what was going on so they wouldn't be dragged into it.

"Do you know who we are?" The man yelled at her, despite being less than a foot away. The woman nodded, tears running down her cheeks. "Good, then you know that no-ones coming to help you. The marines here are in our pocket, in fact I think we'll get a medal for dealing with the girl who could've damaged the treasure that they are due" He gestured to one of his subordinates without taking his eyes off the girl. He put his helmet on as someone handed him a large metal lance which he grabbed and raised above his head with the pointed tip aimed downward.

"Haaaah!" He brought the weapon down with such force it caused a crater in the floor, sending an small explosion of rock in all directions. The attack had missed. "What the hell happened?" The armoured aggressor shouted. He looked across to see the woman standing unharmed with Eddy holding her hand, a look of disgust on his face.

"Haha, a marine eh? You obviously didn't get the memo. Your boss works for us and that means **you** work for us. Now bring that girl back here this instant." The man said patronisingly while pulling the lance out of the stone floor and walking toward Eddy.

"No." Eddy replied bluntly. He stared coldly at the armoured individual before him.

"What did you say to me?" The man yelled. He had stopped in shock at the sheer impertinence of this stranger.

"I said no." Eddy repeated, still not breaking his gaze.

"I am Captain Razor of the Steel Razor Pirates. I own this town! Now give me the girl or Your gonna get hurt."

"No."

"Stop saying that dammit. You can't stop me taking her. Lieutenant Nezumi has ordered that no soldier is allowed to lay a finger on me or my crew. Now get out of my way, I will deal with you in a second. Maybe if your good I'll make your death quick." He marched toward the girl, arrogantly chuckling to himself. The sound bounced round his helmet giving a stereo effect.

"You made just four mistakes." Eddy said calmly as Razor had closed half the distance between them.

"Oh really?" He stopped walking again and theatrically pretended to ponder what they could be. "And what exactly do you think they were?"

"Firstly you struck a woman and assumed no one would object. Second you are still under the impression that you are in control of this situation. Thirdly-" Eddy began charging forward, yelling as he ran. "-**I'm** not a soldier but finally and most importantly-" He drew up level with the armoured man, his fist drawn back and clenched so tightly that it turned white. "I can lay far more than a finger on you!" He thundered his fist forward with power far beyond most peoples capabilities.

Razor didn't even think to protect himself, he had never expected anyone to ever stand up to him. He flew back wards skimming across the ground like a stone on water until he eventually gambolled backwards into a wall with a sound like a sack of pans. The steel clad pirate sat motionless on the floor propped up by the wall alone, his metallic black helmet dented inwards and blood leaking from his nose, seeping through the gaps in the helmet and slowly dripping onto his chest plate.

The remaining pirates looked at Eddy, then at each other and then dispersed, quickly fleeing in all directions. Eddy watched as they ran, smiling victoriously at what he had accomplished on his very first day, an adventure. Once the last of the pirates were out of sight though, Eddy's expression changed.

"Yeooooooow!" He yelled at the top of his voice clutching his throbbing hand. "That hurt like hell! I wasn't expecting it to hurt that much! Someone help." His eyes welled up slightly as he nursed his now bright red digits.

He turned to the woman, the tears in his eyes had miraculously vanished and he was now smiling confidently with his injured hand carefully tucked away in his pocket. "You're safe now." he said, approaching her slowly.

This was the part where he was thanked and praised, maybe even granted some kind of reward. Just like in the adventure stories he had read as a child. As he drew closer he tripped on a piece of rock scattered in Razor's earlier attack, he stumbled forward desperately flapping his arms in an attempt to keep his balanced but it was no good. The young woman let out a yelp as he fell forward on top of her.

"Erm sorry about that." He said laughing nervously still on top of her but she wasn't looking at his face. The woman had turned bright red in a combination of embarrassment and anger with a look of sheer rage on her face. Eddy followed her gaze down to see that his hand had landed with unfortunate precision onto the woman's chest. Eddy now turned as red as his hand had been but couldn't remove his hand, it was a deer in the headlights situation of the worst kind, worsened still by the fact that under the pressure his hand started to twitch slightly. The woman let out a scream and knocked Eddy backwards, he sat trying to say something. He knew that this had gone badly, at no point in the stories he'd read did the hero inadvertently grope the damsel in distress.

"I-I-I-I..." The events had gathered a crowd who were now tutting in disapproval. The girl stood up, huffed and marched away. "I didn't mean toooooo!" Eddy finally managed to force the words out but it was too late, she had left.

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'-Reboot initiated-' The words ran across the inside of the Pacifista's eyes, for only him to see. '-The system encountered a problem and needed to close. Would you like to send an error report?-' The robot returned to an upright position and looked around. '-Error report cancelled-' A group of people had amassed around the Kuma statue, none of the townspeople had ever seen a Pacifista close up before. It was an exciting experience for them. They all took several steps back when it started to move, then all ran when it took a few steps forward because a little excitement is one thing but standing near an active killing machine is something else entirely. '-Retrieving mission objectives...-' There was a moment of still silence while the robot waited for an update. '-LOADING... Objectives: Eliminate all threats #FRAGMENT DAMAGED# Edward Knox. Repairing objectives. TARGET LOCK restored. Objectives repaired... LOADING... Objectives: Eliminate Edward Knox.-'

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**A/N:** Well that is the dreaded first chapter looks like. I hope you enjoyed it, second chapter will hopefully be around soonish and maybe my laptop will even survive throughout this one. As I said there may be people who have read my other story and if you have you know I LOVE OC's. LOVE THEM. Not mine of course, I am creatively stunted at best but yours dear reader are what makes my heart skip a beat. (Too much? I thought so. I will tone it down a bit.) So yeah if you want to submit characters please do and I hope to do them justice. If you want to submit characters you have given me before that is also fine because I have none of them any more. Please review and let me know all the little mistakes I made. (But no need to be petty though eh.) And that's that. Character structure thing below, don't have to use it but they usually help. Thanks for reading. Bye. ShX

Side note, submit characters by pm if you can because there are a few Loons on this wonderful website who will try and get me banned for not mentioning this little tid-bit. Toodles.

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Specialty/Position:

Race:

Devil Fruit/Weapon/Attacks:

Physical Appearance:

History:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Dream:

Other:


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hey, this is the second chapter, reworked several times, still not perfect but it will do. I wish I could say that's why this took so long but I have to admit I was drawn in by the sirens song of new games for my xbox, hopefully next chapter will be more forthcoming.** Also I do not own one piece. I know shocking right?**

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**Chapter 2**

**Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Blood  
**

Eddy staggered to his feet trying to ignore the crowd of disapproving faces that now surrounded him. Typical, pirates preying on a defenceless girl and everyone is blind to the situation but a bit of purely accidental sexual harassment and the audience shows up in force. He rolled up his sleeves revealing a metal brace round each arm and a small shell slotted into each one. He unclipped the metal frames and put them in his bag which was still on the ground nearby. He then pulled out a pair of red gloves, each glove had a heat dial fitted into the centre of the palm with an actual dial surrounding it with various symbols stitched into the glove round its circumference. "Just like old times I guess. My bodies not built to take jet dial boosted punches anyway. Another one of those and I'll break my arm." He thought to himself still flexing his throbbing digits. His eyes narrowed as he slowly turned a full 360 degrees and stared at the crowds of judging faces that were encircling him.

"Don't you people have something your supposed to be doing?" Eddy yelled, his face was still glowing red with embarrassment. He carefully stepped over the stone that had already caused him so much humiliation and pushed his way through the horde of onlookers. Once he was free of the wall of people he moved over to the unconscious pirate who was still slumped against the yellow brickwork of the large stone clock tower that overshadowed the bustling street he was currently in. Eddy ran a red glove through his messy, light-brown hair and crouched next to the armoured man. "Hello?" Eddy said shaking Razor's steel clad shoulder's. There was no response. He decided the pirate would benefit from some fresh air, Eddy gripped the metal helmet firmly and pulled. The helmet didn't budge, Eddy gripped harder and stood on Razor's shoulders for leverage, even with the combined strength of his arms and legs he couldn't get the helmet free, it had been dented onto the man's face. Eddy's grip on the metal finally gave out and he launched himself backwards into a heap on the stone floor with a thud. "Ow... This isn't working." He wheezed as he tried to free himself from the pretzel like contortion he had somehow managed to land in. What Razor had said before about the marine in charge of the island being in his pocket was disturbing and he wanted some answers before he went and did something stupid. He glanced across to the scattered valuables and smiled. "I think they may want those back." Eddy thought as he walked over and began shoving the various gems and gold into the sack cloth bag they had been in. "I better do the responsible thing and take them back. Maybe ask a few questions while I'm there." He put the sack of treasure in his duffel bag and zipped it up. He slowly became aware of muffled heavy breathing behind him and turned to see Captain Razor with his lance raised above his head.

"I'rr ma' 'ou forry 'ou did vat 'ou PASTARD!" His eyes appeared to glow red with rage in the depths of his deformed helmet.

"What?" Eddy replied with his head tilted to one side and a confused look on his face.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Razor stabbed the lance down toward Eddy ferociously.

"Oh I see." Eddy responded diving out the way of the attack. The blast of rocks that resulted from Razor hitting the stone floor collided with Eddy in mid air knocking him across the ground, he pushed against the floor using his momentum to flip himself back onto his feet but he had become separated from his bag, it had everything he owned inside, he dragged his attention back to his opponent.

"Don't you think it's time to call it a day tin man. You look a bit... dented." Razor let out another disgruntled roar and charged forwards jabbing his lance toward Eddy with lightning speed and pinpoint precision, it became a blur of movement. Eddy frantically dodged the attacks but they were coming at him too quickly, he dived to the right into a combat roll and raised his palm toward the momentarily confused Razor. His eyes focused on the crowds of people still present in the street.

"Dammit. I can't use this with those idiots standing there gawking." He told himself lowering the heat dial on his hand. Razor charged toward him again, his blood filled mouth emitted a sound somewhere between a roar and a gurgle as he brought his lance down for another powerful attack. Eddy jumped forwards and spun round in mid air swinging his heel into the side of Razor's dented metal helmet, Razor staggered sideways but his lance still shattered the ground beneath Eddy spraying debris into him like shrapnel as he landed. He dropped to one knee and clutched the various cuts along his left arm, Razor let out another blood curdling raw and charged again jumping forward with his lance poised above his head.

"So this is it." Eddy thought to himself, a sly smile crept across his face at the thought of it. "So this is how karma works. Well, at least it's exciting." His vision was blurry from the pain and he had started to feel woozy from blood loss, his vision momentarily cleared, his eyes widened when he noticed the street ahead had become devoid of people.

Eddy quickly rotated the dial on the palm of his glove and threw his hand upwards just as the lance was about to make contact, the air rippled momentarily then burst into flames in an explosion of heat. Razor screamed as he shot backwards bouncing several times off the ground until he skidded to a halt, he pulled himself to his feet, feral eyes glowed with anger in the depths of his helmet.

"I don't want to kill you pirate but you're not leaving me much choice here." Eddy said while slowly rotating the dial to a different setting than the one he had shot a moment ago. "If you carry on I will have to stop you."

Razor raised his lance horizontal to his body in line with his shoulders and his other arm which was now pointed at Eddy like he was lining up a shot. His knees bent and he blasted forwards with incredible speed, litter from the street took off behind him with the force of him pushing off and he had covered over half the distance between him and Eddy in less than half a second but Eddy was prepared. Another explosion of fire appeared a metre or so away from Eddy's outstretched palm but this time it was much larger, Razor's charge was met with an oncoming wall of fire that passed over him like a wave. The armour clad frame of Razor's body stood stationary for a moment but suddenly the various pieces of armour began clattering against the floor one by one and emitting clouds of black ash that were all that remained of Razor's body.

Eddy stood in silence staring at the cloud that was his opponent. While he attempted to catch his breath he contemplated what his next move should be but someone else had already made it for him, a flash of movement in his peripheral caught his attention, he turned to see a man sprinting away with a duffel bag. To be more precise, he saw a man sprinting away with **his **duffel bag. "This is going to be a long day." Eddy groaned as he forced himself forwards into some semblance of a convincing pursuit. The thief weaved through crowds of people in the narrow cobbled city streets then darted down an alley way between a pair of the cities typical timber framed houses, Eddy sprinted after him, he arrived in the alley to see the thief springing from wall to wall towards the rooves.

The thief just managed to pull himself up onto the flat roof of the building as a wave of flames rose from the ground below, his eye widened in shock when he felt the heat singe his back. Below Eddy had run back out of the alley and carried on his pursuit from the street, having to keep the thief in sight on the rooftops above while trying not to smash into any of the crowds of people that littered the streets was hard work. After a few minutes of running he noticed a flight of stairs adjacent to the street leading up to the second floor of a house, he sprinted up the staircase and pushed of the hand rail, grabbed onto a flagpole protruding from the wall just ahead and flung himself upwards onto the roof. The thief had just passed him and was leaping onto the next building along, he managed to catch a glimpse of his face as he ran by, he knew he had seen him before. He was one of the pirates from earlier, one of Razor's men, maybe getting his bag stolen wasn't so bad after all, this could be his chance to get some answers.

Eddy followed the thief, jumping from rooftop to rooftop but the vagabond was fast, Eddy could barely keep up. The man hopped across a larger gap onto a much lower rooftop with ease rolling as he landed to cushion the fall, Eddy was not used to diving across rooves or anything else for that matter, he leapt forwards without thinking and watched the ledge he was aiming for pass by the tips of his fingers. He bounced off a fire escape, hit the wall opposite and then landed in a garbage can with a thud.

Eddy slowly pulled himself up, removed a banana peel from his head and rolled forwards out of the trash dropping to the floor with his arm clutched to his stomach, he had winded himself pretty badly but at least this dealt with making the thief think he was free. He slowly limped out of the alley still rubbing his bruised back, this was definitely not a nice part of town now, the bustling streets had become deserted and there wasn't a single house that looked as though it was inhabited, the entire area seemed greyer than where he had been before, there were boards covering almost every window and planks nailed across most of the doorways.

"Nice place. Homely." Eddy said sarcastically as he walked down the street in the general direction he had been chasing the thief, various litter blew round his legs in the breeze that gained a wind tunnel effect down the built up corridor of derelict buildings.

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After five minutes of walking he came to a large warehouse, like every other building in that miserable area it was run down and boarded up but it was the only building big enough to use as a hideout, pirates generally weren't smart enough to be subtle so the most obvious building is usually the one to go for. He rotated the dial on his right hand and gestured to the door, the heat from the glove rippled the air as it passed through and hit the wooden frame of the doorway igniting it with enough explosive force to blow it from the concrete surrounding. Eddy waited a moment for a response from inside but it never came, a minute or so had gone by and yet no one had even come to check on the noise, maybe he had gotten the wrong place but he decided to look inside just in case.

The second he passed through the threshold he was met with the unmistakable scent of blood and sure enough a little further down the main entrance corridor two pirates lay dead on the floor their blood smeared across the pale green wall where they had slid down its surface. A little further down the corridor there were three more men and from their various scars they seemed well acquainted with combat and violence but they hadn't even managed to draw their weapons before they were cut down; each with a near identical killing blow, three slashes across the throat like an animal attack. Suddenly a noise from upstairs caught Eddy's attention, it sounded like a struggle, whoever had done this was still here and had probably just run into the man with Eddy's bag.

Eddy ran to the end of the corridor past the main warehouse floor catching a glimpse of it in the corner of his eye as he passed by, there were bodies, ten of them. These people had at least managed to draw their weapons but that was about as far as they had gotten and from the positioning of the bodies it looked as though they had surrounded the intruder but then been annihilated. At the end of the hallway he dashed up a flight of stairs to the second floor and to a similar scene as he'd been greeted by on the first; lifeless remains slumped against the walls either side of the corridor along its entire length, it had easily been a crew of over thirty men and something had slaughtered the lot.

Eddy couldn't help feeling grateful to whatever it was that had done this as it saved him a lot of trouble, he hadn't really figured out how he was going to deal with all of these people, he highly doubted they would have given him the chance to talk before they attacked. At least this way he didn't have their blood on his hands, well their ashes at least.

"No please stop, I-I have gold, here take it just don't kill me." The voice was male but had been forced into a high pitched shriek of terror. Whoever it was in there was probably responsible for the rest of the bodies he had seen so far. The petrified man must be the thief he had followed there and the gold he was trying to bribe the killer with was from his bag.

"I don't want your blood money. There's nothing you can do to change my mind, I came here to make you all pay for your crimes and then I will pay a visit to the officer who allowed you to continue for so long." The voice was female but cold and emotionless, the voice of someone capable of assassinating an entire crew of pirates. "Before I kill you I will give you a chance to repent for your crimes by telling me where your boss is." Her eyes were dark, almost black, the pirate felt as though she was looking straight through him, he couldn't look away from them not even at the three blades protruding from a gauntlet on her hand that were inches away from his throat. He just sat on the floor staring in fear at those cold eyes.

"H-He's not here, some guy in town killed him. Burnt him alive. D-Do you work for him? T-Tell him he can have his bag back. The bribe is still all there."

"What guy?" She snapped moving the claws half an inch closer.

"The-The-The marine guy. H-He can keep the treasure, just let me go!" The man cried trying to pull himself away from the steel poised at his throat.

"What marine guy? Is he in on it too? Which marine guy!" She yelled angrily. Outside Eddy moved from the wall he had been leaning against to listen to the conversation and walked through the door of the room.

"I think that would be me." Eddy said stepping into the room, the girl had her back to him and the pirate thief was sat on the floor in front of her still cowering in fear. The first thing Eddy noticed was a large oak tree, a tattoo of one covered her entire back, the roots started on her lower back with the top branches expanding across her shoulder blades to meet with her black hair that stopped just above the ends of each branch and had a red feather tied into it on top of her head. She turned slightly redirecting the focus of her piercing black eyes towards him. The braids in front of each ear swung violently with the turn then quickly settled back into position.

"S-See t-that's the guy. I-I can go now yeah?" The thief snivelled, staring in horror at the three blades now that he had been freed from the imprisoning stare of those eyes.

"I'm sorry," The girls voice was softer now, less harsh and almost pitying, "too many people have died for you to live." She spun to face Eddy fully and the blades attached to her hands cleaved effortlessly through his neck as she turned, the thief was dead almost instantly and slowly toppled sideways leaking blood out into a puddle around the girls bare feet. Eddy's eyes widened while he watched helplessly, he wasn't naïve, he knew that sometimes people had to die, you can't save everyone and it's kill or be killed but this wasn't like that at all, he had given in but she killed him anyway. It brought up memories of someone he hated more than anyone, himself.

"You didn't have to kill him you know." Eddy said quietly while shaking away his thoughts.

"Oh I am sorry." She replied, her dark eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Was this slaver piece of trash a friend of yours?"

"Er no not really he just stole my wait, did you say slaver?" Eddy couldn't stand slavers or the governments lax views on how despicable a business slavery truly was. He found himself feeling less sorry for the hordes of dead by the second.

"Man you're pretty stupid huh?" She replied smiling smugly. Her face suddenly became cold and emotionless again. "Now, tell me about your boss."

"My boss?" Eddy asked innocently.

"Listen I know you're not the brightest spark but don't try and take me for a fool. Your wearing a marine officer jacket so you're at least a Lieutenant. That means you can save me the trouble of killing that weasel Nezumi and tell me about the slavers the marines are working with on this island." Her dark eyes were still locked onto what Eddy felt could only be his soul, it made him uncomfortable. He was also starting to notice that she didn't blink or at least hadn't so far, a sign of a trained warrior, his only chance now would be to use his amazing charm and whit.

"... erm" He was drawing a blank and her eyes had moved from his soul to his throat which was strangely less disconcerting. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about." He couldn't help seeing that her dark green tank top barely showed its original colour through various blood.

"I figured you'd say that. I'll ask you again after I raise you're voice an octave or two. Hopefully I won't need dog hearing to understand you when you're begging to tell me what you know."

"You're not very nice, you know that? Very angry. It's not healthy and it ruins your pretty face." Eddy barely had time to finish his sentence because four knives had shot towards him at bullet speed. He automatically grabbed the edge of a table with his right hand and swung it forwards at chest height with the surface facing away from him, the four knives lodged into it and poked through the other side as it hurtled away from Eddy and towards the dark eyed woman. Three slashes glowed across the table momentarily before it fell apart and she burst through the remains with both sets of claws poised to attack. Eddy kicked a chair into the air in her general direction then quickly turned the heat dial on his left hand as he spun and shot a burst of heat that engulfed the entire wooden seat in furious flames. The girl had already committed to cutting through the obstacle and couldn't stop herself in time, the hindrance was easily destroyed just like before but this time a shower of embers burst out in all direction forcing to close her eyes, just for a second. Eddy darted forward, grabbed her outstretched clawed hand and flipped her over his shoulder into the opposite wall with a thud and a crack of bones fracturing.

Eddy took a moment to bask in this small glory choosing to ignore the fact that in the books of heroism and chivalry he'd read, flinging women into walls was up there with groping on the list of what not to do but he was quickly learning real life wasn't like in books, this girl wasn't exactly what you'd call a damsel and she didn't seem like she'd ever been 'in distress'.

"I'm impressed." The girl had flipped back onto her feet as though nothing had happened, she certainly didn't look like someone with three cracked ribs. "People rarely get a hit on me, you should be proud but don't think that a bit of fire is going to scare me, I've fought someone who uses fire for a long time. You better step up your game, I have high hopes of this being a good fight." She began tying back her long black hair into a pony tail.

"You could at least tell me your name first." He replied, trying not to sound anywhere near as scared as he actually was.

"I'm former marine ensign Mai Sado and you are? It's not that I care or anything but maybe I can get them to right something nice on your grave." She smiled grimly then stretched out her arms.

"My names Edward Knox... uhm... Major I suppose." He shifted uncomfortably at the last part.

"A Major huh? That would explain those battle instincts, you must have seen a fair bit of action huh?" Mai said using the moment of conversation to get used to the throbbing pain in her side.

"Not really. I've been in one war and that was the only time I've been out of the marine base until now." Eddy was determined not to let himself see any of the memories he'd so carefully repressed from that dark time in his life. That was the point when he knew he didn't want to be a soldier, he didn't have the stomach for it.

"One war and now you're a Major? You must have done something pretty special." She said, noticing that something hit a nerve when he talked about war, all she needed was one opening and this seemed like the topic to make him give her that.

"The world government calls me The Hero of Alabasta. Alabasta still calls me the Devil of Alubarna, I think they are closer. The things I did there weren't the actions of a hero." The look in his eyes was not something Mai had accounted for, she found herself caught by the sadness that seemed to bore into the abyssal depths of his pupils. Eddy quickly looked away and then back at her with a smile on his face. "Very clever, distracting me like that but I can't help notice I'm not dead. I fell for it hook line and sinker why didn't you take the chance?"

"I just didn't want to miss this opportunity for a good fight." Mai said with a grin on her face as she darted to one side and then forwards straight past Eddy while rapidly increasing in speed until she was a blur moving round the room with amazing momentum, despite being in the confined space of the room Eddy was completely unable to follow her movements. Mai came into view a split second before she swung a claw horizontally towards his neck narrowly missing as he bent backwards to avoid it. She let the momentum of the slash carry her round into a spinning kick to his stomach that sent him flying into a wall with a similar thud to the one she made when she'd hit it. It knocked the wind out of him and left him unable to do anything while he watched Mai lunge towards him with a set three blades aimed at his neck.

Eddy slammed his hands against the wall behind him and twisted them both using the friction from the wall to turn the dials. He released two consecutive blasts of fire toward the approaching Mai, she disappeared as the flames passed through where she had been but was forced back to the other side of the now fire damaged and generally beat up room. Eddy used the opportunity to move away from the wall but Mai quickly returned to speed, blasting past Eddy in all directions not attempting an attack until she had him right where she wanted him. Out of no where she appeared moving at incredible speed in a straight line toward him, Eddy readied himself attack the incoming target but as she drew in close Mai was suddenly behind him with her claws ready to strike. He hadn't even managed to see her change direction.

The world seemed to slow down in those few seconds, it felt like the universe was giving him a final chance to take in all the details of his last few moments of life; the dull grey depressing décor of the room he was in lit by the gentle glow of scattered pieces of flaming furniture and a rhythmic beeping that echoed in the streets outside.

Beeping? His eyes widened and his body took over, a yellow beam of light ripped through the exterior wall near the floor and cut across the room diagonally continuing through the ceiling. Eddy sent a blast of fire to his left with his right hand using the force of the blast to spin round positioning himself so Mai's clawed hands moved harmlessly over his shoulders as he grabbed her round the waist and slammed himself to the floor pulling her down with him just as the Pacifista light beam glided through where she had been a split second ago.

"What the hell was that?" Mai asked, a little winded from the sudden fall. The buildings steel supports creaked and began sliding away from each other as the entire top half of the room started falling away, it crumbled under its own weight and fell in on Eddy and Mai who were still on the floor. A wave of fire ripped through the debris as it fell reducing most of it to ash and blasting what remained out of the way, Eddy lay on his back under Mai panting with his hand still pointing up towards what was now the open sky above him. Mai became aware of him beneath her and brought her hand toward his face, he winced in anticipation of claws but they had been retracted into the gauntlets on he hand, she had her index finger pressed firmly against her thumb hovering over his forehead then flicked him hard. "Pervert." She stated evenly before pushing herself to her feet and walking over to the freshly cleaved gap where the wall had been. The Pacifista stood in the street below perfectly still like a statue, "You gonna lie there all day?" She said turning to Eddy and kicking his foot in an attempt to move him from his grounded state.

"What's happening here. We were fighting a second ago. In fact I think you were about to kill me. I mean erm attempt to. I'm sure I would have been fine. *Cough*" Eddy said sitting up with a confused look on his face which was slightly blackened from cremating the upper half of the room he'd also aquired a small cut on his left cheek just above his Kanji tattoo.

"Yeah well a lot can change in ten seconds. I guess you've proven that you're worth keeping around. Try not to let it go to your head." She smiled and held out a hand to help him to his feet. Eddy decided to take her up on the offer, after that fight he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get up without at least little help.

Eddy walked towards the edge of the building to see the Kuma Pacifista still standing motionless in the street, "That could have killed me you useless glorified blender!" The robots angular face slowly looked up towards him.

"TARGET ACQUIRED: EDWARD KNOX. BOUNTY: ZERO ZERO ZERO BERI. ORDERS: KILL ON SIGHT." His mouth dropped open and a large surge of energy built up within until a blinding beam of yellow light fired up towards Eddy narrowly missing his head as he dived out the way turning the heat dial on his right hand as he rolled across the floor and back onto his feet. He directed his open hand towards Kuma and the air around the robot ignited in an explosion of fire, the Pacifista stood in the centre, seeming completely unaffected and then slowly walked out of the flames, his surface appearance had been burned away and his metallic exoskeleton glowed hot from the heat but was merely superficial and had done no real damage. The metal Pacifista had now turned a charred black as it looked up again towards Eddy.

"I take it back. I don't think you're useless and I meant blender as a complement. I love blenders!" Eddy shouted whilst slowly backing away from the exposed edge of the room. The Pacifista opened it's mouth again for another attack.

Mai suddenly appeared mid somersault over Eddy's head and dropped down onto the Pacafista bringing her heel down onto its metal cranium. The powerful kick forced its mouth shut and knocked it back a couple steps but didn't seem to damage it in the slightest. She disappeared into a blur of movement as a large metal hand swiped through the air where she had been, she darted past behind him slashing behind the mechanical joints that would be the knees on a human, the claws sparked against the Pacifista's resilient alloy. It spun round in an attempt to attack her again but she was already gone then appeared behind its head and slashed twice on the back of its head with little effect. She disappeared again, and stopped next to Eddy who had jumped down into the street.

"This guy's invincible. What are we supposed to do?" She asked not taking her eyes off the Pacifista for a second.

"I think I have an idea." Eddy replied, huddling in closer so the robots sensitive sound receivers couldn't hear.

"You sure that'll work?" Mai asked sceptically.

"It's the only plan I have." Eddy replied, feeling it probably wasn't the most confidence inspiring response.

"Oh well then, go team us I guess." Mai grinned confidently and darted forwards again running a ring round the charred Pacifista, showering sparks in all directions from a torrent of slashes. Eddy pushed his palms together then twisted them in opposite directions activating both heat dials and spun round sending two blasts of fire into the Pasifista's chest, the flames superheated the metal but nothing that would even slow it down. Mai quickly appeared next to it's enormous chest and slashed an X on the glowing metal with her claws. When the metal cooled the X shaped indentation remained in the centre of its torso.

"Let me get that for you." Eddy jeered as he ignited the air over the Pacifista's chest again. This time only the cross glowed under the heat. Mai appeared again with a throwing dagger ready in her hand and threw it at incredible speed then instantly shot forwards beating the dagger to the Pacifista, as the blade passed her again, she spun round and kicked the pommel of the knife driving the blade through the softened cross of metal. The Pacifista let out a roar then instantly swung at Mai who placed a hand on the approaching arm and used it to flip herself over the Kuma-bot's head before propelling herself off its back and disappearing for the final time. The Pacifista fumbled to pull the knife from the middle of it's chest eventually yanking it out without showing any sign of pain.

"Oi fridge features." Eddy yelled, drawing the cyborgs attention away from it's minor wound, the Pacifista looked at him, he was smiling confidently, Mai was standing behind him with a similar smug smile. "I was lying to you before." The Pacifista opened its mouth and began charging its light beam attack. "Blenders suck." He lazily gestured towards the injured cyborg, the shot of heat rippled through the air and ignited area around the Pacifista's open wound the flames travelled through the interior of the metal giant reducing what was left of it's humanity to ash. The charred shell slowly dropped to its knees and exploded violently, Eddy's jacket billowed in the force of the blast while scraps of flaming metal fell down around them. Mai's triple bladed claws retracted into the gauntlets on her hand and she let out a sigh of relief.

"That was fun." She said, sidestepping a larger piece of metal that had fallen back to earth. Eddy let out an even longer sigh and put his hands behind his head.

"You've got a pretty twisted sense of fun Mai. But I have to admit enjoyed scrapping that junk yard reject once and for all." He smiled gleefully as the intact head finally thudded into the ground cracking the cobbled street around it.

"It's not twisted it's... unique. Maybe if I stick with you a while I can bring you round to my way of thinking. Besides, I gotta pay you back for saving my ass up there." She gestured vaguely towards the destroyed warehouse with her thumb. "Although for future reference, saving my ass probably shouldn't involve grabbing it. Pervert." She said matter of factly, her dark eyes twinkled evilly as she watched Eddy's face slowly glow bright red.

"I-I-I... You see I... erm... Dammit not again."

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**A/N:** Hope you liked it and thank you to Tommyboy1331 for the intimidating Mai Sado. R&R if you would be so kind. More importantly keep submitting characters so I have something to read and hopefully use.

ShX


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